After a few minutes, Defender Zik and the crew of the Temerity are on their way! Zik congratulates the team on an excellent scramble time, and lets them know that this time, it’s not a drill! There is a real mission afoot, with a good chance of combat! After months of playing cat-and-mouse with the elusive and violent communists, there’s finally an opportunity to confront them directly in an effort to foil their hijacking. Francisco locks in the navigation to Gamma Apodis, and they hit the hyperdrive! It’s go time!
With the rescue balloon inflated, Zik and Haven begin a rapid rise to the surface of the water. The shark starts to follow, but Haven finally manages to activate the shark repeller!
On the surface, Zik spits out his breathing unit to tell Ramesh and Todd to help them out of the water quickly! There’s no holding back a great white shark, so they need to get into the boat pronto!
Once safe, they drive the boat to the dock on the island, and Zik helps Haven out of the boat. Todd’s call for help managed to attract some attention, and a transport ship from the University of Port Rothbard, Haven’s research sponsor, arrives to help. A journalist from Zoz Broadcast News arrives as well, drone camera rolling!
Haven tells the whole story of her discovery, the avalanche, and how Zik rescued her to the reporter. And then she says the fateful words that will cement Zik’s legacy for all time! Zik will forevermore be known as Zik the Gallant Defender of Zoz!
Later that evening, once all the excitement is over, Zik and Haven go for a romantic walk on the beach on Talia Island. The couple has strong feelings for each other, and they begin a relationship with a kiss at sunset.
Zik and his friends stop what they’re doing to absorb the shocking news! A radical group of socialists has stolen the colony ship that was used to bring humans to Zoz! These Jairians, taking their inspiration from Hugo Jaire, have declared a socialist revolution!
As your favorite space hero absorbs this shocking moment in history, the colony ship arrives in orbit around the planet he’s on! The radicals launch a cargo hauler from the colony ship, headed straight for the mining facility they’re at.
Our friends head outside to the landing pad to see what these scoundrels want. Zik reflects that in hindsight, it would have been wise had they all been armed, but only Frank is carrying! Uh oh!
The Zozians have started expanding to nearby star systems in search of resources. In the case of Baker Mine, they have found a nice deposit of palladium, among other things on the same planet. One terraformed atmosphere later, the mineral rich planet is ready to be mined! Why terraform the atmosphere? Well, Delta Mining Systems, who run this mine, plan to be working here for a very long time, and it’s inevitable that a deadly atmospheric accident of some kind will occur eventually. It’s also far cheaper to terraform an atmosphere over that length of time than to pay the extra insurance rates it would cost to have such a complex running in a vacuum. It’s just safer and cheaper to make sure walking outside doesn’t kill you.
While a drone unloads Zik’s asteroid rubble into the processing plant, your favorite space hero hangs out in the security office with his pals Tanaka and Arata for a spirited game of dutch blitz, a card game popular among the Chadee.
But they’re interrupted by the station chief Frank, who sees something alarming on the news!
The party approaches the factory, which has a couple of stern-looking Colonoid soldiers guarding the entrance. Word is, there’s a new Clonoid being fitted for a uniform today. Zik is confronted and decides to shed his disguise and open a dialogue. What will happen next?
